Dec. 6, 2010 at 2:26 p.m.
Filed under:
Crime,
Criminal charges,
Fraud
By Dow Jones Newswires
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announces the results of "Operation Broken Trust." (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
U.S. officials said Monday they have charged more than 500 people in what they dubbed the largest-ever nationwide sweep of scam artists preying on individual investors.
The announcement comes as federal agencies and the Obama administration are facing pressure to punish big-name companies and individuals for their role in the financial mess. So far, the U.S. has won few high-profile cases, compared with the aftermath of the savings and loan crisis and the dot-com bust. Get the full story »
By Reuters
An executive of a California research firm was arrested Wednesday on securities fraud and conspiracy charges after U.S. prosecutors accused him of arranging for inside information to be leaked to hedge funds, the latest development in an investigation of the industry.
The arrest of Don Ching Trang Chu of Primary Global Research stems from wiretaps and the cooperation of Richard Choo-Beng Lee, a hedge fund manager who pleaded guilty last year as part of the insider-trading prosecution of Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and 22 other traders, lawyers and executives. Get the full story »
Nov. 24, 2010 at 1:32 p.m.
Filed under:
Crime,
Criminal charges
By Reuters
An executive of a hedge fund networking firm was arrested Wednesday on charges related to insider trading, part of a broad investigation of hedge funds by U.S. prosecutors.
A criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in New York said Don Ching Trang Chu, also known as Don Chu, promoted the services of his California-based firm, Primary Global Research, by arranging for inside information to be leaked to hedge funds. Get the full story »
Nov. 24, 2010 at 11:30 a.m.
Filed under:
Criminal charges,
Internet
By Dow Jones Newswires
WikiLeaks founder and chief editor Julian Assange plans to ask Sweden’s highest court to overturn a lower court decision ordering him detained for questioning, his lawyer said Wednesday. Get the full story »
Nov. 24, 2010 at 9:58 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Crime,
Criminal charges,
Fraud,
Litigation
By Reuters
The trustee seeking to recover money for defrauded Bernard Madoff investors has sued UBS AG and others for more than $2 billion, accusing them of collaborating in the imprisoned swindler’s massive Ponzi scheme.
UBS was accused of assisting Madoff’s fraud by sponsoring foreign feeder funds that sent client money to the once-respected money manager, lending them “an aura of legitimacy” while shielding itself from liability through secret side agreements. Get the full story »
Nov. 23, 2010 at 6:55 p.m.
Filed under:
Crime,
Criminal charges
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
Federal authorities, intensifying an insider-trading investigation, are demanding trading and other information from some of the nation’s most powerful investment firms.
Hedge-fund giants SAC Capital Advisors and Citadel Asset Management, big mutual-fund company Janus Capital Group Inc. and Wellington Management Co., one of the nation’s biggest institutional-investment firms, have received subpoenas from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office seeking trading, communications and other data as part of a broad criminal investigation, according to people familiar with the matter. Get the full story »
Nov. 23, 2010 at 6:36 a.m.
Filed under:
Crime,
Fraud
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
A three-year insider-trading investigation shifted into high gear Monday as government agents raided the offices of three large hedge funds, sending shock waves through the financial world. In coordinated raids in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents seized documents at the offices of Level Global Investors LP, Diamondback Capital Management LLC and Loch Capital Management LLC.
Another hedge fund whose activities are being examined is Chicago-based Balyasny Asset Management LP, the people familiar with the matter say. Balyasny, which reported $1.8 billion in assets under management at midyear, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Get the full story »
Nov. 22, 2010 at 12:30 p.m.
Filed under:
Crime,
Fraud
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided the Connecticut offices of two hedge funds, Diamondback Capital Management LLC and Level Global Investors LP, amid a massive insider-trading investigation.
“The FBI is executing court-authorized search warrants in an ongoing investigation,” said Richard Kolko, an FBI spokesman, who declined to comment further.
Both hedge funds are run by former managers of Steve Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors. Get the full story »
Nov. 19, 2010 at 6:26 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Credit Cards,
Crime,
Criminal charges
By CNN
A Malaysian man was charged on Thursday for hacking into the computer network of a U.S. Federal Reserve bank and for stealing more than 400,000 stolen credit card and debit card numbers, according to federal authorities.
Lin Mun Poo, 32, is suspected of accessing financial records at a Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland, Ohio, by “exploiting a vulnerability he found within their secure system,“ according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York. At least 10 Federal Reserve Bank computers were affected by the breach, resulting in thousands of dollars in damage, the statement said. Get the full story »
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
The Illinois Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit against Chicago-based Illinois Loan Modification LLC, Omega Business Center, its managers and related businesses, alleging that they preyed on residents of the Chicago-area’s Polish community by falsely promising mortgage and credit card relief.
The suit, filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, charged that the companies and their affiliates charged upfront fees to consumers but the promised services were never provided and customers who canceled their contracts were not issued refunds. Get the full story »
Nov. 9, 2010 at 1:42 p.m.
Filed under:
Criminal charges,
Government,
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
A former lawyer for pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline Plc has been indicted on charges of lying and obstructing an investigation into the company’s promotion of an anti-depressant drug, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.
The lawyer, Lauren Stevens, was indicted on four counts of making false statements, one count of obstruction of justice and one count of falsifying and concealing documents related to Glaxo’s promotion of the drug for weight loss, which had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Get the full story »
Nov. 5, 2010 at 2:19 p.m.
Filed under:
China,
Crime,
Food,
Fraud,
International,
Packaged foods,
Trade
By Associated Press
A honey import executive who pleaded guilty to conspiring to avoid more than $5 million in U.S. anti-dumping duties has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Hung Ta Fan, who also used the name Michael Fan, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago and was ordered to pay about $5.38 million in restitution. He pleaded guilty to the charges in August. Get the full story »
By Reuters
U.S. investigators filed criminal and civil fraud charges against a French doctor they say leaked negative inside information about a Human Genome Sciences Inc. hepatitis drug trial, enabling six hedge funds to avoid $30 million of losses.
Yves Benhamou was accused by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission of tipping a portfolio manager about Human Genome’s experimental hepatitis C treatment Albuferon in late 2007 and early 2008. Get the full story »
Nov. 1, 2010 at 4:08 p.m.
Filed under:
Criminal charges,
Litigation
By Associated Press
The former CEO of disgraced energy giant Enron asked a federal appeals court Monday to grant him a new trial based on a Supreme Court ruling his attorney said puts his conviction for conspiracy and securities fraud in question.
Daniel Petrocelli, attorney for Jeffrey Skilling, presented his argument to a three-judge panel scheduled by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June that an anti-fraud law was improperly used to help convict Skilling in 2006 for his role in Enron’s calamitous downfall demanded a new trial, Petrocelli said. The jury received bad instructions, he said, that could have tainted their decision. Get the full story »
Nov. 1, 2010 at 6:21 a.m.
Filed under:
Crime,
Fraud
By Tribune staff report
By Lisa Black | Convicted of stealing millions from investors, a Winnetka man who declared himself so broke he was assigned a public lawyer is living on the 19th floor of a $2,600-a-month luxury resort and spa overlooking Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Steven Green, 52, persuaded a federal judge to allow him to delay reporting to prison by a month — from Oct. 26 to Nov. 30 — so that he could move his wife to Pensacola Beach, Fla., before he begins his 78-month incarceration.
